ur 



Si 




OassJ __ 
Book . . 



THE DISCIPLINE OE SORROW. 



il, trial, and loifering, still await us, and the 
nperienoeol ' ll,s l]iat we arc not 8uffi " 

me, all y« that are weary and 
laden, and 1 will give you mk" 



THE 



DISCIPLINE OF SORROW. 






WILLIAM G. ELIOT, 

!/ 
SENIOR PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH. 



They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. 



SIXTH EDITION. 



BOSTON: 

AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION. 
1882. 






0^ 



tJ 



I < »npre», In tne year 1866, t. 

11 I .\ R I | MIL] 

In the Clerk's Offie :. of M*s*achu*eUft. 






cr o 

THE FAMILIES 

AMONG WHOM I HAVE LIVED FOE MORE THAN TWENTY TEARS 

WHOSE SORROWS ARE MINE, AND WHOSE HEARTS 

ANSWER TO MY OWN IN THE AFFECTIONATE 

REMEMBRANCE OF OUR DEAD, 

Efjts SLtttle Eoofc 

IS RESI»ECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR FRIEND 

W. G. E. 
1* 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



I AM almost tempted to hope that these 
pages will be read by none except those who 
have already learned, under the Discipline of 
Sorrow, that familiar truths bring the most 
effectual consolation. I have aimed at no orig- 
inality of thought or novelty of expression, but, 
on the contrary, have sought to express the feel- 
ings which are common to all who mourn, in 
words which have become, through frequent use, 
the peculiar language of sorrow. To those who 
have felt only the lighter afflictions of life, the 
consolations here offered will seem trite and 
insufficient. But I humbly hope that those 
upon whom the heavier burden has been laid. 



VIII AD v i; K T i 

I who do not nek d bat 

the power of Christian enduranoe, will r* 

m wordi their own indii 
da] azperieD 

trengtfa which they individually n 

Mo., May 11, 1855. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

I. Preparation, • . . . 11 

n. Trial, 33 

HI. Weakness and Strength, 67 

IV. Compensations, . . . . • •*... 77 



f reparation. 



A spirit still prepared. 

And armed with jealous care, 

Forever standing on its guard, 
And watching unto prayer. 

Let him remember the days of darkness ; for they 
shall be many. 



() Lord, our Il.-awnly Fatln-r, who hast I 
brow inning oj ni in 

■JD6 with thy gtf :•. ami -rant that 

fcj W8 i; v siM. neither run into any 

danger ; hut thai all our doings, ben 1 by thy 

UMnoe, may be righteous in thy Bight, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 



PREPARATION. 



We are not unmindful of the blessings 
which God bestows; nor do we complain 
of the trials of life, as if they were too 
severe. Yet we cannot help feeling that 
life is oftentimes a discipline of sorrow. 
The Scripture gives only the needful 
warning when it teaches us to remember 
the days of darkness, for they shall be 
many. We need to remember them, and 
to be daily prepared for them ; for they 
will surely come, the sad days of adver- 
sity, suffering, and bereavement. The 
common lot belongs to our common 
humanity ; and when we feel most se- 



14 



ION. 



re misfortune may be d< — when 

• "int ourselves strongest wi 
be leaning upon a broken reed. 
point where we think do defence requi 

r " w may atranoe, and find us 

111; 

It' i' w luestion only of prndenoe 

and wisdom, it wonld be different Then, 
by directing our attention more y to 

the defences and n :.s of life, we 

might bope to escape. Bat, although 
may thus avoid many troubles, and greatly 
1 — n the amount of trial, there arc still 
ex P inst which human wisdom 

rd ; there are misfortunes which 
baffle all human foi ; there are 

directly of God's .-ending, and no 
man baa y<t lived who baa not had reason 
that the days of darkness are 
many. 



PREPARATION. 15 

We should therefore be prepared for 
them ; and, as we retreat to the cheerful 
fireside when the storms of winter are 
around us, so should we, with equal fore- 
sight, and in preparation for a greater 
need, provide inward stores of light and 
heat, of pleasant thoughts and memories, 
of pure affections, of childlike faith, of 
undying hope, of resignation and forti- 
tude, of energy to do, and resolution to 
endure, whatever may be appointed as our 
part in life. 

With this view, we would look to some 
of the sources of comfort from which the 
soul derives light in the days of darkness. 
We shall best know the preparation to be 
made when we have learned, from our 
own experience, or that of others, what 
are the consolations which give permanent 
and effectual strength. In the times of 



16 






leal of miseral 
a, and they who do not and 
■ depths of som.w t«. which the h 
may go down inore ing hv 

ir efforts to console. 

There are chiefly three bo from 

which effectual and in, r 

1, and which become more abun- 
dant, and impart more perfect peace, in 
proportion to 

under which we Buffer. First, a clear eon 
science ; secondly, the Christian faith ; 
thirdly, the accustomed performance of 

duty. 

First, a clear conscience — aconsoiei 
void of offence towards Gk>d and towai 
man. We speak, of coarse, in a human 
and not of thai absolute perfection 

which none of OS attain, and for which it 
is almost arrogant to Imp,.. We mean a 



PREPARATION. 17 

life well spent, and the feeling of self- 
respect before men, and of humble, con- 
fiding hope before God, to which, by such 
a life, we are entitled. It gives the con- 
sciousness of inward strength, and a 
steadfastness of heart which nothing else 
can bestow. It enables us to feel that the 
calamity has come as discipline, and not 
as punishment. It arms us against the 
sting of misfortune, and assures us that, 
though cast down, we cannot be destroyed. 
But, in proportion as we remember wrong 
in our lives, we are weakened under the 
burden of sorrow. In proportion as we 
feel that we have not deserved God's 
blessings, their withdrawal causes addi- 
tional pain. We may not accuse our- 
selves of fault in the particular case, yet, 
if we are conscious of general unfaithful- 
ness, that our talents have been wasted 

2* 



18 



Pi KATIOtf. 



thai ou time has been misspent, I 
worMl.v cares have been our princi 

OOI 

thoughts, and his bl< joyed with- 

out thanksgiving or prayer, tb 

'-In of adversity becomes heavier, and 
the mm! rinks under it almost with 

ling of despair. .Still more, if ■ 
memory of specific guilt is awaken 
with feelings of shame or of self-con- 
tempt, the afflictions under which 
labor will seem doubly great ; and al- 
though there may be no connection be- 
tween the wrong done and the suffering 
endured, we can Boarcely help interpr 
tog the one as the deserved punishm* 
of the other. The hear! is thus deprh 
of its natural strength, and troubled 

thoughts OOme to interfere with its COW 

lations. 



PREPARATION. 19 

The commission of sin is a wrong done 
to the soul, far beyond our conception at 
the time when committed. It puts us on 
a lower grade of existence ; it subjects 
us to lower influences ; it spoils the se- 
renity of our temper ; it makes us de- 
pendent upon outward circumstances for 
inward peace ; it separates us from God, 
and the dear communion of his Spirit ; it 
estranges us from Jesus Christ, and from 
all sympathy with the pure and good ; 
and altogether it makes us incompetent to 
understand the dealings of God toward us, 
either in his mercies or his chastisements. 
Every sin committed makes it more diffi- 
cult to trust in God, or resign ourselves to 
his will. It changes the expression of 
his face from love to anger, because it 
disturbs the atmosphere of our thoughts 
and feelings through which he is seen. 






ION. 



But the pure io hearl see God as he is 
in j tyment of his blec bey re- 

in bis love ; and when the i 
dai the light which 

from heaven is only the more beautiful 

M of the gloom which 1 pon 

the earth. 

This is th Che first counsel to 

(h.».M> who would be prepared for the 

trials of life. Avoid Bin ; slum 

ry wrong action ; stoop to no mean- 
ness ; yield to no bad passion ; indulge 
no sinful appetite ; for e rach devia- 
tion from right, though lung forgot 

orded in the secret ohamh the 

memory, to be read, whether we will or 
no, wh( n the days of darkip 

But let the life be given of 

usefulness, and let the laws of ian 

morality be Carefully observed ; let eon- 



PREPARATION. 21 

tinual effort be made to live as Jesus 
lived, who went about doing good, who 
did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
mouth ; and, although we cannot thereby 
avoid grief, and may need to pray, in 
agony of spirit, as Jesus prayed, that the 
cup of sorrow may pass from us, yet, 
having the consciousness that we have 
labored to do God's will, we shall still be 
able to say, as Jesus said, " Thy will, not 
ours, be done." Sorrow, when unmin- 
gled with remorse, may bruise, but it 
cannot break the heart ; and the smoking 
flax will not be quenched. 

The second preparation for the days of 
darkness is Christian faith. We speak of 
it as a preparation, because, if we wait to 
seek for it until the darkness has already 
come, we are like those who were com 
pelled to go and buy oil for their lamps, 



PREPARATION. 

when their lamp- 1 tc 

and burning. Religion must be 

familiar to OUT inimK the channel i 

which our thoughts naturally turn, or it 

will be an imperfect source of i t to 

the stricken soul. If we have, then, to 

ins! objections, and p 
ourselves of the troth, when the mind 
needs repose, and the hear! is wai 
the word of divine compassion, " peace, 
be still , * * our condition, though not hope* 
less, must be very sad. Adversity often 

has the effect of awakening m the 

necessity of religious faith ; but the c 
of those is far better who have understood 
the necessity before the trial comes. They 

like men who Bleep in their arc 
and who, at the first moment of alarm, 
arc toady for the conflict They may be 
suddenly surprised in the midst of perfect 



PREPARATION. 23 

security, and aroused from the pleasant 
dreams of home and kindred to a contest 
of life and death. But their first con- 
scious thought is that God is with them, 
and that he has already given the earnest 
of victory. " When we lie down to sleep 
thou art our defence, and when we awake 
we are still with thee." Such is the 
blessed influence of Christian faith upon 
all who heartily receive it, in preparing 
them for the severer conflicts of life. 

We are not speaking of disputed ques- 
tions in theology, but of the faith which 
is in common to all those who sincerely 
believe in Christ. It is to believe in the 
parental love and kind providence of God. 
It is to believe that while we were yet 
sinners Christ died for us. It is to be- 
lieve that earth is a place of discipline, 
where not only joy, but sorrow, is a proof 



24 PBBPi EtAI [OH. 

of tlic divine goodness, and thai whom 
God loveth 1 teneth. I( is to h< r 

the heavenly voice of Jesus, " Come a 

, all vi' thai ar< 
laden, and I will give you rest.' 1 [I 
faith in immortality, in redemption, and 
in the soul's communion with God. And, 
whatei mav be which foi 

within US the life of ( "in - US 

e infinite God, his Fath< 
our Father, and teaches us to count all 
things but Loss for Christ's sqke, while 

ISS forward towards the mark for the 
prize of our high calling, this is what 
n by the Christian faith. It is the 

i lation of the soul in spiritual life ; the 
rising above the world while we live in it, 
so that the clouds which i ihadow 

upon «>ur path can do Longer ol the 

upward vision. Life may be a baptism 



PREPARATION. 2£> 

of sorrow, but by Christian faith we are 
baptized into the Holy Spirit. It con- 
firms us amidst all doubts ; it allays our 
fears ; it speaks of pardon to the sinner, 
and of a blessing upon those who mourn. 
It tells us of the departed, that they are not 
dead, but sleeping. It reveals to the be- 
reaved heart the mansions of the blessed, 
which Jesus has gone to prepare ; and, 
although it leaves us in a world of mys- 
tery, teaches us even here to trust. Ah ! 
how little do we know of the religion of 
Christ, until the days of darkness come ! 

Therefore, let those who would be 
prepared for all the vicissitudes of life, 
its disappointments, its bereavements, be- 
come earnest seekers of religion, until the 
Christian faith is the breath of their nos- 
trils, the common air in which they live. 
Let them fill their hearts with it. Let it 



PB1 IV\ RATIO*. 

pervade their homes, and govern tl 
families. Among all the realities of lift 
lei it be regarded, 

chief reality. is having their daily 

walk with God, when they oome to the 

dark valley of BOTTOW and of t 1 low 

of death, his rod and his stair will com- 
fort thnn. Earth has no sorrow which 
Eeaven cannot heal. 
Another source of returnic 

o o 

in the time of adversity, and of consola- 
tion In bereavement, is found in the 
customed performance of duty. M What- 
soever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might/ 1 is sometimes the first word 
of practical comfort, and bring! 

liesi relief. The words Of sympathy 

may be heard with patience, and will by 
and by be remembered with gratitude. 

The hearty encouragement of friends may 



PREPARATION. 27 

arouse us from despondency, and prepare 
us for new exertion ; but the heart's 
pulse cannot become healthy when the 
hands are idle. We must return to our 
working, and to the daily routine of life's 
duties, however cheerless the task may 
be, and however difficult. We may have 
no heart for it, and rather a feeling of 
weariness and disgust ; but the exertion 
for duty's sake will be like medicine to 
the soul. The sooner we are compelled 
to receive it, the better for us ; and the 
necessity of working, which seems at first 
a hardship, is found to be a blessing. It 
is therefore to be accounted -one of the 
aggravations of severe affliction that it 
throws the mind off from its balance/ and 
for the moment paralyzes its energies, so 
that the capacity of working is lost. Some- 
times, too, a change is produced in our 



28 



[ON. 



pO« 10 thai the ordinary routine of 

dut; and an interval of c 

parative idleness musi land until 

the fi 3 of the oalan 

past But the sooner we can retain to 
aooastomed duties, and the more exa 

perform them, the h. tier. W 
not do them heartily, but ye< faithfully. 
If they are such duties 
formed mechanically! while our thoughts 
are elsewhere! they will be the i and 

the less wearing to the mind, if ft 
are luoh as to require hearty interest in 
them for their proper performance, it is 
probable thai they will, i be imper- 

ly done, and the voluntary effori 
them may come very hard. But, wh 
Bver ft , no one erer gains 

by shrinking from his duty, and the con- 
tinual effort Bhould be made. Bour al 



PREPARATION. 29 

hour will bring its own strength. One 
duty helps us on to another. The en- 
deavor to serve God brings us nearer to 
him, and we submit to his divine will, not 
only with patience, but in that active 
cooperation by which we become instru- 
ments in his hands, and cheerfully go for- 
ward in the path which he has ordained, 
although it may lead through sorrow unto 
death. To sit down and weep, although 
we may say God's will be done, is not the 
Christian resignation. It is to arise from 
that prayer, with Jesus Christ, and go 
forward to the completion of our work. 

It may be a hard lesson to learn, but it 
does not the less need to be taught. Un- 
til we have learned it, we are not strong 
to endure the heavy trials of life, and fail 
to derive from them their best instruction, 
He who is withdrawn from his duty by 

3* 



SO P B EPA RATIO N . 

grief, and Bpendfl his time in (he idleness 

of adding to tihe providential 

infliction the feeling of personal unfaith- 

i'ulness, still harder to endure. If the 
calamity under which hfi Buffers be worldly 

mortification and Loss, Let himgrapp] 

the difficulty without complaint, and, hy 

manly enterprise, 

the past, command b for the future. 

If it be a heavier Loss, for which earth 

has no healing, and time no euro, let us 

remember that the only road which leads 
to the heavenly physician is the path of 

duty, and, if we would he followers of 

ius Christ, we must also be the hearers 
of his cross. 

We may perceive, therefore, the fo 
of the words used, that the accustom 
performance of duly is a source of con 
lation, and of renewed strength. We 



PREPARATION. 31 

must have previous habits of industry, 
and the regular employment of time, or 
adversity will find us without nerve for 
exertion, and without energy of will. It 
is then no time to learn how to work, and 
how to forget one's self in the work done. 
Strictly voluntary exertion is almost impos- 
sible, and we need all the strength of for- 
mer habit to enable us to act like men. 
But, if trouble finds us in the midst of 
our duties, the hands may continue to 
work ; the mind, for a moment distracted, 
soon recovers its tone, and the heart, 
arousing from the first consternation of 
grief, is prepared, by obedience to the 
will of God, for the consolations of his 
Spirit. For we are then doing our part 
with faithfulness, and God will sustain 
and strengthen us. He shall come down 
like rain upon the mown grass, like dew 



P U I V A B ATION. 

upon the plant which perisheth ; for 
her piticth his ohildren, to doth 
Lord pity those who fear him. 

Kowev< the trials of life may 
be, we can therefore always hold oura ; 
in readiness for them. I word of conn- 
Bel includes all. » Pear God ami k 
his oommandmentB ; for this is the whole 
of manhood, the whole duty of man." 
Having a good conscience, pnttu 
trust in God throngh Jesus Christ, living 
in the daily performance of OUT duty, and 
,ln i i onto the Lord, we are pre- 
pare! r,, r every emergency of life, and 
under it trials the Comforter will 

With u<. " Peace I have with you, 

my peace I give onto yon,*' said the Sav- 
iour. " Let imt yonr heart he tronbl 

neither let it he afraid." 



CriaL 



There is a battle to be fought. 

An upward race to run, 
A crown of glory to be sought, 

A victory to be won. 

With the baptism that I am baptized with, ye shall 
be baptized. 

No chastening for the present seems joyous, but 
grievous ; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruits 
of righteousness. 



1, who knoweat us to be set in I I of ud 

ma!,. v reason of the faulty 

Of 1 upright ; gr 

ton- !i and pi :i.s maj Bu|>] »ir' 

-. and carry us througb all tern] 
through J ist our Lord. 



TRIAL. 



We do not seek, however, to conceal 
from ourselves the severity of discipline 
to which, under the providence of God, 
we are here subjected. It would not be 
difficult to give such representations of 
human life as would make it appear any- 
thing but a blessing. From some points 
of view it seems to be nothing but trouble 
and care, a weary progress of pain and 
disappointment, of vexation and loss. To 
say nothing of its sins and the retribution 
of sin, which are in themselves the worst 
evils, there is enough suffering from prov- 
idential causes, over which we have little 



30 



T II I 



or i till our 

ml to make o 
walking in a gloomy path, which m 

"in' 1 more and more gloomy I qcL 

An infancy « childhood of i 

appoinl , a youth of mis a man- 

hood ol an old age of weariness and 

spondency, with its gray hair ai 
taring brought down in r to 

the tomh. " Vanity of vanit: edth 

the preacher, " all is vanity." 

First, ther the pains and bodily 

diseases, the thousand natural shocks that 

h is heir to. We may lessen tli 
perance and careful obediei 
laws of health ; bat none of as can aJ 

ther escape. There will be many < ] 

and weeks in which we shall Bay we have no 

pleasure in them. In the morning we i 

out, would God that it were evening, and 



TRIAL. 37 

when the night comes, would God that it 
were morning. Or, if the pain is not suf- 
fered in our own persons, we may have a 
harder trial in witnessing the pain of those 
whom we love, and who look to us for the 
relief which we are not able to give. Per- 
haps it is at the bedside of one too young 
or too helpless to express his wants and 
sufferings, and over whom we watch in the 
helpless agony of despair. Perhaps it is a 
long-continued contest with some incur- 
able disease, which baffles all skill, and 
goes on with uninterrupted course to the 
end. But, in some form or other, the 
trial comes to every family and household. 
How many are there at this moment to 
whom, upon their beds of suffering, day 
brings no relief, and night brings no 
repose ! 

Then there are the disappointments 



38 



i AL. 



:u " 1 1' whir], all are subject Pov- 

ry poor, and very coi Bat 

u1 "" llis ,l;iil . fail to bring him 

«laih- broad, when hia beat industry i 
not provide clothing and education for hia 
children, when the anxiety for the mon 
n forced upon him in spite of alJ hia faith, 
; '" •* tmotion alo : hope 
If, the physical evil of p 
com greater apiritna] evil, wei 
down the mind, and .sometimes debasing 
t! "' character. The poverty of whi 
world is so full, and which we are daily 
called upon to relieve, is an evil f bi- 
asing magnitude; and, althongh we 
may oot suffer from it ourselves, its pr 
enoe amen- as i> a eanae of grief, and 
our inability to remove it 1, 
Bona! hardship. It spoils our comfort to 



TRIAL. 39 

know that there are so many within our 
daily reach who are yet removed beyond 
our effectual sympathy. To live in the 
midst of suffering which we have no 
power to relieve, is to share in the suffer- 
ing ourselves. 

Sometimes it comes still nearer to us, 
if not by absolute want, yet by the losses 
and reverses of fortune to which the most 
prosperous are exposed. The best se- 
cured fortune may be lost, and they who 
are now living in affluence may find them- 
selves next week looking for the means 
of support. All their plans of life are 
frustrated, the luxuries upon which they 
had learned to depend as needful comforts 
must be given up, their position in society 
is changed, and they must begin life over 
again, once more to go through its strug- 
gles and endure its buffets, at a time 



40 



\ c . 



when they had though! the] 
secure in the haven of* 
and wealth. Riches take to themsel 
wings and fly . Here u no i n\ 

menl absolutely Becure from I iept 

of that which we have honorably used to 
good and honorable purpose. Nor is it 
only the loss of what we may 1 
earned, but still more it is the mortifl 
Hon incident to the loss, and the 1 

of vexations and troubles which 

must follow. The misunderstandings, the 

unjust reproaches, the unavailing i 

that those whom we sou-lit to serve have 

n made to suffer, the oppre iel- 

Log of debt which we would gladly O 

our blood to pay, and we know not h 
many other feelings moat distressing to 

those who have the nieest sense of honor, 
are implied in those words which we 



TRIAL. 41 

speak so carelessly, and which describe a 
thing of daily occurrence, the reverses of 
fortune. The life which is marked by 
such vicissitudes, and in which such 
changes are continually to be feared, is 
too full of care to be a life of enjoyment. 
But what are these losses of outward 
temporal blessings, which future industry 
may restore, and which will be remem- 
bered by and by with pleasantness, com- 
pared with the loss of our household treas- 
ures, our friends and kindred, to whom 
our hearts were given, and with whom 
our hearts are buried? How lonely and 
desolate is the house where bereavement 
has come ! How heavy are the hearts of 
those who continue to do their appointed 
duties, which have now become a task- 
work, from which the relish has gone ! 
How dreary is the path of life, with its 

4* 



42 



I A L. 



mi routine of «• Lte ohildish 

amusei and 

hare looked upon 
the angel of death, and who have st 
by the open g 

would complain, but thai they are be- 
tel weeping for her ehildi 
and refusing ; 

not. Every family l,- ni t 

ate at the fireside ; every heart at ti: 
for those who are living, in the 
places of the dead. We cani 
the of bereavement ; cur deal 

love cannot hold back those whom G 
oalleth ; and while we mourn for the de- 
rted, trembling mixes with oar love for 
those who remain. 

It is thus that the dread element of 
uncertainty ia everywhere present, to 1 

and often to Spoil OUT best enjoy- 



TRIAL. 43 

ments. The danger of losing whatever 
we possess, and whatever we enjoy, is 
always impending ; and the feeling of se- 
curity is one which we can never wisely 
entertain. For, if it were possible to pro- 
tect ourselves from pain and disease, if we 
could insure our possessions against the 
possibility of loss, if we could close our 
doors against that visitor who comes 
with equal tread to the threshold of rich 
and poor, and who chooses first those who 
are loveliest — if we could thus secure the 
permanence of all the conditions which 
belong to a prosperous life, yet does our 
own life itself continue only from day to 
day. We are but tenants at will, to be 
removed with or without warning. This 
night shall thy soul be required of thee ; 
and then whose shall all those things be ? 
The windows of the house are darkened, 



44 



T It 1 A L 



I La broken at th< 
pitcher La broken at th.> fbuntai 
mourners go about the itreeti 
days remembering as, and then the pi 
which knew us shall know ns no more 
forever. 

The indisputable fart that we may die 
at any moment is of itself enough, hu- 
manly speaking, and with only a htm 
view, to make the thought of happin 
absurd. We must put it out of view, or 
human enjoyment is impossible. And 
therefore God fa oiously ordained 

that, while we know and admit the I 
whenever it is distil ited, it comes 

to us n of pro] •, a 

W of humanity, than as a truth 
of persona] application. Only by a 
Btrong mental effort does it oome to the 
individual so as to be a personal rn. 



TRIAL. 45 

It scarcely ever comes at all in the hours 
of happiness, and we live on from day to 
day with a feeling of security, although 
well knowing that we are not secure ; and 
reach forward with our plans and schem- 
ings with a self-assured certainty of 
many years, when we know well enough 
that we ought not to count upon as many 
days. This is not mere thoughtlessness on 
our part, nor is it generally a wilful confi- 
dence in the duration of life. It is the 
wise and merciful ordering of Providence, 
without which the best provided life 
would be unhappy. If the uncertainty 
of life were ever present with us, dwell- 
ing in our thoughts, seen by the mind's 
eye, as the fact really is, not one of us 
could enjoy, and few could endure, to live. 
If we could see the arrows which fly by 
night, passing so near to us on every side 



46 i a i, . 

a t 1 thousand times h hey 

touch us with their fatal point ; if 
could hear Che sileni b 
Lenoe which walketh in dark 
moving of its wings, which disturb the 
we breathe, as it goes onward wasting at 
noonday ; if we discerned the peril in 
which we thus continually stand, the dan- 
gers and tin. 1 snare- among which we so 
confidently move, our only prayer would 
be that death might come quickly, to 
release us from the pain, the trembling, 
and (he fear. The terror would continu- 
ally be increased in proportion to the 

>f our seeming bliss ; ami G 
in his mercy, has therefore made it possi- 
ble for as to be happy by the gift of un- 
COnsciousness, .so that, without reasoning 
upon the subject and against reason, 
enjoy the present, and look forward 



TRIAL. 47 

the future with instinctive confidence. 
But, for a truly happy life, for the happi- 
ness which reasonable beings crave, some- 
thing more than this instinctive evasion 
of the truth must be given. By shutting 
our eyes to the danger, the childish pleas- 
ure-seeking of life may continue ; but 
when we put away childish things, and 
become mature in understanding, we 
need some higher law by which to live, 
and under which to enjoy. 

The proposition with which we began 
will therefore remain undisputed, that 
human life may be represented so as to 
appear anything but a desirable gift. 
When we think of the cares and anxie- 
ties, the burdens and vexations, the 
weariness and the pains, the conflicts and 
defeats, the disappointments and losses, 
the estrangements of friendship and the 



48 UAL. 

dee of love, U Lb of con 

and tli of evil for go 

think how often tin' abundance 
of joy Lb thus suddenly ohai 

is of grief, wi' musl either, if 
(dona) beings, lie down In despair under a 
burden too heavy to be borne, or w 
rise up with a new and better Btrei 
breathe an atmosphere more serene, and 
to live above the world while we live in 
it. As rational beings, we lose 

our eves to that which reason and experi- 

ie declare ; but, as spiritual bein 
may enter into the counsel of God, and 

rn from him what is the reality of life 
amidst all of its seemings, what is Its i 
meaning amidst all its illusions! what i 
its substantia] joys amidst all its diss 
pointments, what is the fixed and glori 

lit of all its changes. It is for this 



TRIAL. 49 

purpose that we have turned our thoughts 
to that which may at first seem a sad and 
gloomy view of life ; it is that we may 
pass, by the necessity of the case, by the 
demand of our nature, by the upward 
yearning of the soul, to that which is a 
thousand times more true, and ten thou- 
sand times more glorious. 

The key of interpretation, by which 
that is made plain which would otherwise 
be mysterious, and that made bright 
which would otherwise be gloomy, is sup- 
plied by the knowledge of God's purpose 
concerning us, and our consequent faith 
in his providential care. Only when our 
will is in opposition to his do the uncer- 
tainties and calamities of life over-burden 
us. While we think of present enjoy- 
ment as the chief end, no explanation 
of life's manifold sorrows can be given. 

6 



60 TRIAL. 

Adversity is then an unmixed erfl 9 and 

ry day of grief an irretrievable 1«»^ 

Bui when we know that the enjoj 
of life, however rich and abundant, 

nol the purpose of life, bat are on] 

dental to its real 11 to un- 

derstand that the same love which 

may, by its continued and high Ml, 

take sway. 

The child, looking at the fruit-tree 
when covered with beautiful and fra- 
grant blossoms, supposes that beauty I 
fragrance are its ultimate end. lie is 

disappointed when the blossoms fall, and 

the tree appears to him unsightly and 
useless. But when he learns that the 
fruit n<>w begins to be formed, he changes 

his thought, and understands that the 

blossom- were but the superflu* rail- 

ings, which must pass away before the 



TRIAL. 51 

real uses of the tree can appear. And so 
it is with our life. Its childhood and 
youth are filled with delights, its advanc- 
ing years are crowned with blessings, we 
are led by a gentle hand over green pas- 
tures and by the still waters, and our 
cup of gladness runneth over. Then, 
with childlike thought, we rejoice in the 
abundance of God ^ ™ifts, and if we 
thank him at all, it is for tne enjoyment 
conferred, and not for the love from which 
it proceeds, and by which it may pres 
ently be withdrawn. We need to lean 
that the purpose of the tree is to bear 
fruit, not flowers ; and that the wisdom 
and goodness of God may abound only 
the more at the time when the blossoms 
fall. 

But our lives are not like the trees of 
this colder clime, which are quite shorn 



52 



T R I A L , 



of their beauty before Che frail begins to 
appear, bat ratlin- like the orange and 
8, on which new blossoms con- 
tinually come, and successively give p] 
to the forming fruit in our mortal 

life, one delight after another disappears, 
ring place to that higher instruction 
which is the intended fruit lint new 
delights continue to bloom around us, so 
that, together with the Badness of incr 
ing wisdom, the spring and the summer 

Of the heart are continually re- 
But still the truth remains, that the fruit, 
and not the flower, is the ultimate end. 
What is the will of God concerning o 
It is that we should become holy ; that 
we should grow to the stature of Chi 
tian manhood ; that, by the discipline of 
life, its mingled joys and sorrows, we may 
be educated for heaven. All [.resent en- 



1RIAL. 53 

joyment and suffering are to be regarded 
chiefly in that view. They are good or 
evil, not according to their seeming, but 
as they minister to that end. The beau- 
ties and the glories of life, its purest 
enjoyments, its sweetest charms, are 
often only the flowers that must fall 
before the fruit appears. If their con- 
tinuance hindered the fruit, would their 
continuance be a proof of God's love ? 
We may weep while we answer, and feel 
that the glory has departed from our 
house ; but still, if we are not wayward 
children, we shall consent to that which 
the Lord doeth that it is right. 

Believe, therefore, in the wisdom of 
God. Consider his great purpose con- 
cerning us, and although our path may be 
sometimes rugged and steep, we shall 
perceive that it is the right path, and 

5* 



B l \ L . 

leading us in the righi way. The uncer- 
tainties of life are a needful part of its 
discipline. The stolen treasure of earth 
turns our thoughts to the tiv.-isure in 
heaven, which neither moth nor r 
doth corrupt, and which thieves do 
break through to BteaL The pains of the 
body remind us of its mortality, and 

awaken US to the higher life of the SOuL 
Adversity, howevei stern in its oomil 
looks hack upon us with a smiling i; : 
when its leBSOnfl have heen learned ; and 

bereavement, with the hand which Bmifc 
points upward to the heaven where our 
angels dwell. " Ye shall drink/' said tl 
Saviour, " of my cup ; and with th< 

tism wherewith I am baptized, ye shall he 

baptized withal. 9 ' And do we not, like 
those brave-hearted disciples of el 

time, do we not consent to the baptism, 



TRIAL. 55 

although in the bitterness of tears ? Do 
we love the body so much that we would 
not rather save the soul ? Do we shrink 
from the cross, when our eyes are already 
fixed upon the crown ? 

Understand, therefore, the purpose of 
God concerning us, and we shall under- 
stand all the mysteries of life. If we 
can make his purpose our own, we shall 
be saved from a great part of its tempta- 
tions. We shall smile at its outward 
losses, we shall endure with patience its 
heavier griefs, we shall learn by waiting 
to serve God, and by suffering to become 
strong. We do not say that we can 
thereby secure uninterrupted enjoyment ; 
but we shall secure, amidst the severest 
storms of life, uninterrupted peace. We 
shall secure uninterrupted progress. We 
shall make our earthly life, with all its 



50 t it i a i. . 

adveraities, an uninterrupted blearing. 

I n at to this eternal truth, 
il'a Balvation i> the great i 
lomplishe I, and we shall per 

<i<> ( l doeth all things well. 



S&iaknm aitfr &tr*it|jtj) 



Forgive the weakness I deplore, 
And let thy peace abound in me, 

That I may trust myself no more, 
But wholly cast myself on thee. 

! let my Father's strength be mine, 
And my devoted life be thine ! 

But when he saw the winds and the sea hoisted- /is, 
he was afraid. 
Lord, increase our faith. 



II- Mir my God, and hide nut thyself 

my petition. Take bead unto me and hear me, how 1 
mourn in nr and AID t My heart id 

dieqoieted within 1 the (eai of death Ki hDen 

m ••. Pearfblneei and trnuMing are comei;: 
me, and an horrible dread hath o\rrwh.'lmed me. 

I tliat 1 had win-s like a dove, fat then w 
1 tlv away and be at rest I would make haste to 
escape from the stormy wind and tempeat But j 

will call upon God, and tlie Lurd shall save me. 0, 
cast thy harden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain 
thee and shall not suffer the righteous to fall. 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 



When a difficult duty was made known 
to the disciples, they came to Jesus and 
said, Lord, increase our faith. It is the 
same prayer which we need continually 
to offer. We sometimes desire more 
knowledge, and complain that revelation 
has not instructed us more fully, and 
sometimes we ask for more evidence of 
its truth. We suffer our minds to become 
perplexed with difficult doctrines, or with 
what are called philosophical explana- 
tions, which darken what knowledge we 
possess, and then, if religion fails to ex- 



W1: il. 

upon as the needful control, 
■ •• the desired comfort, we impute 

blame to the religion, instead of impati 

i* : Ivea We need not more in- 

action nor clearer evidence of the truth, 

but more faith. AW- need j 

ity of believing, and a more childlike 

lit in itfi 

Certainly our religion contains all 
instruction thai we need. It is adapl 

all the »\L of life, and oan sup- 

ply all its wants. As a system of tie 

y, it reveals God in his infinite | 

tions, BO that we can understand his deal- 
- with us ; and a- a system of moral 

traction, it develops all that Lb true in 
our nature. The heavenly Father, whom 
Christ makes kn«»wn. is a being of infinite 
wisdom and of perfect goodness, i 

power is directed hy love, and under his 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 61 

protection we are shielded from all harm. 
Among all the changes of life we may 
feel secure, because without him not even 
a sparrow falleth to the ground. By 
knowing his purposes concerning us, our 
redemption from sin, and the education 
of our souls for immortal life, the myste- 
ries of his providence, otherwise inscru- 
table, receive explanation, and we can 
rest assured that while infinite wisdom 
directs, infinite power can execute the 
plans of infinite love, so that all things 
will ultimately work together for our 
good. Even the great mystery of sin is 
partly explained by the efficacy of repent- 
ance, and the promised reconciliation 
vith God through Jesus Christ. Tempta- 
tion is disarmed of its power to those who 
believe that God answers their prayers, 
and will find a way for their escape. The 






ND 8TREN< 



burdens of life become light to those i 
e supportL-ii liy a divine arm, Ad\ 
rity loses Lta threatening aspect, and 
beoomee a proof of parental love. Be- 
reavement, however Bad, no longer lea 
as to Borrow as those who have do hoj 
for the dead may yet belong to as not [< 
vcn more than the living. Death 
I from an enemy t. 
friend, from a destroyer to a deliverer, by 
him who hath given us the victory. We 
travellers through the wilderness to 
the promised land ; we are children, . 
oeiving our education I'm- the maturity of 
■ OObler life ; we are soldiers in the army 

"i' God, who most endure the conflict I 
fore the victory is gained ; and, however 

dark (he read may sometimes be, and 
however hard the lessons to be learned 
and however tierce the battle in which a 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 63 

must engage, the pillar of cloud and fire 
still goes before us to guide, the voice of 
our heavenly teacher still encourages us 
to learn, and the armor of our God still 
defends us from harm. " Nothing," said 
the Saviour, "can, by any means, hurt 
you." Such are the words that he con- 
tinually speaks. Seeming evil is real 
good. They who sow in tears shall reap 
in joy. Death opens the way to life, and 
the afflictions of the present time, which 
are but for a moment, are working out for 
us a far more exceeding, even an eternal 
weight of glory. 

The instruction, therefore, is sufficient 
to those who receive it. We may multi- 
ply all the calamities of life beyond what 
any one has ever endured, and beyond 
what human strength can endure, until 
all human hope is gone, and all earthly 



w i:.\ | NES8 A.N U 

joy departed ; and still the Buppori 
by ooi religion La Bofficieni for our n< 
way of deliv< still open, 

the light from h< continually 

bright 

So at Least it may be, and w 
to be. Bat how La it with os Id 
With the knowledge of God's love and 
paternal care, with the knowledge I 
Christ died for us and ever liveth 
make intercession for as, with the knowl- 

ge that death is bat the om 

an earthly to a heavenly home, with the 
knowledge thai all our trials, her 
for our good, and thai God i mani- 

ting his Love more perfectly than wi 
hia hand of chastening is Laid apon as, — 
with Bach instruction given to as by 
Christ, and received by as as true, wl 

are Oar real I j when calamity im- 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 65 

pends ? How do we endure the chastise- 
ment ? How do we actually receive the 
sterner discipline of life ? The instruc- 
tion is immediately forgotten, the explan- 
ations of God's providence no longer sat- 
isfy us, the purposes of God concerning 
us are disregarded, the promises of Christ 
seem to be afar off, the waves of sorrow 
go over us, and the light of God's pres- 
ence is shut out from our souls. The dis- 
appointments and losses which come in 
the ordinary course of life are beyond 
our patient endurance, and the bereave- 
ments which make our homes desolate 
prostrate us almost in hopeless despair. 
Because one blessing has been taken 
away, there seems to be none left. Be- 
cause there is one calamity, there seems 
to be no joy. Everything seems wrong, 
and, like the unfaithful prophet, when the 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 

vine withers and the Ban beats down upon 
our heads, we say, and, what 
we feel, thai it is better to die than 
live. Trouble comes upon us, and 

Taint ; it ton. lies us, and we know not 
what to do. Where, then, is our fear, our 

tfidenoe, the uprightness of our wa 
and our ho] 
It is not because we deliberately r 
tinst God, nor would we dare to t, 

the ordering of our days out of his 
hands ; but we are astounded, and know 
not which way to turn. It is not that we 

inly complain ; but we shrink from the 
chastisement, and are unable to look up. 
Our minds tell us a thousand n rhy 

should be comforted, but no word of 
oomforl reaches the heart What, then, 
is the difficulty ! There must be some 
defect, some short-coming, some defi- 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 67 

ciency, or we could not be thus unfaithful 
and inconsistent. We may say that the 
spirit is willing and the flesh is weak, 
and that this is an explanation of the per- 
petual conflict and the occasional defeat. 
It is so. But why should that weakness 
continue ? Why does not the spirit 
conquer ? Why is the weakness of the 
body transferred to the soul, instead of 
the soul's strength transferred to the 
body ? It is because our souls themselves 
are weak through the want of faith. 
Eeligion becomes an insufficient support, 
because it is not thoroughly believed. 
There may be no deliberate or intentional 
doubting, but there are involuntary mis- 
givings and fears. The heart wavers, and 
the mind wavers with it. We had thought 
ourselves thoroughly convinced, but now 
we ask, almost with trembling, can it be 



68 i, 

true thai Qod li 

never fail, injudgmeni remen 

mercy, La that which the Lord d< 
alwi in f 

We wonder at ourselves when - 
thoughts mi,,,.. We .„.,. ashamed of 
state of mind into which fcroub] 
thrown as, and cannot oi 
it continues, and our souls i I down 

within us. They are also sor . d, 

ami even our prayer is (hat of despond- 
ency — Lord, how long ! 

Shall we .say that this is the condition 
of aone hut a worldly and irreligi< 
man? That the Christian believ 
nev.r Buffer from such mi- and 

weakness, and fears? J Jut it is in the 
language of David that we have tx 

along, and Paul himself, althoui 
ready to he offered up, exclaimed, " In 



WEAKNESS iND STRENGTH. 69 

this tabernacle of the flesh we do groan, 
being burdened." It is an experience 
through which every one, sooner or later, 
must pass ; and spiritual strength is 
gained only by the knowledge and con- 
fession of weakness. 

But what, then, shall we do ? When 
these times of despondency overtake us, 
and we learn that we are still weak, even 
wherein we had thought ourselves strong- 
est, how shall we find strength and com- 
fort? Shall we argue over again each 
point of doctrine, and reestablish every 
truth ? No ; for at such times the intel- 
lect does not lead the heart, but the heart 
leads the intellect. Shall we accuse our- 
selves of sin, as if all our former religion 
had been hypocrisy, and all our faith a 
delusion and lie ? No ; for our former 
religion was sincere, and our faith had 



70 WBAKNB8S am» BTR1N0TH. 

;iial to the fan ices of 

life. Bui under the heavier burden no 
strength La needed, and the severer trial 
has c<'int.' that a higher lesson may be 
learned. From God alone can the need- 
ful strength be given ; and we who i 
anxious, but scarcely able to believe, turn 
to him, as the apostles came to Jea 
with the prayer, '* Increase our faith/ 1 
Bere La the difficulty, and h< the 

means of help. Increase our faith. G 
to the spirit victory over the flesh. Ena- 
ble us (irmly to believe that which we 
now imperfectly discern to be true. Ma 
the spiritual life real to us, so that we 

may walk by faith, and not by right 

Strengthen the belief of the intellect, and 

exalt it until it becomes the conviction of 
the whole soul. Bring heaven nearer to 
us, and make the presence of God so real 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 71 

that in him we may live, and move, and 
have our being. Bring eternity near, 
until death shall seem to us, as it is, the 
birth and starting-place of the soul. Lord, 
increase our faith ! 

But do we understand the full meaning 
of that prayer ? It is not to increase our 
willingness to believe, for we are never 
more willing than when the greatness of 
calamity oppresses the soul. We are will- 
ing, nay, anxious to believe ; but the 
confusion of our thoughts for the time 
prevails, and our hearts are disquieted 
within us. Nor is it chiefly to pray that 
the truth, partially revealed, should be 
more fully manifested. It is rather to pray 
that our whole capacity, as intellectual and 
moral beings, may be enlarged ; that we 
may be lifted up from one grade of spirit- 
ual existence to another ; that our nature 



Sfl AND B iM. 

itself may be I and \ 

things to be Been remain unchj bat 

; to be opened. < >pen t! 
es of my mind, thai I m rly 

i the things which are in thy law ! 
The troths of religion are of 
kind thai they become plai us as 

advance in purity and goodness. Our 

I faith in < o 1"' incn nly 

by our becoming more like God. Unless 

have the spirit of Christ, \\< 
of his. But, as the mists of sin are dis- 
pelled, which are the clouds obscuring 
God's countenance, we rise to a oleai 
light, we breathe with a larger inspirati 
we live in a more glorious companionship. 
Our faith cannot be in< 

Lain upon the same level. In propor- 
tion as we do his will, we know of his 
doctrine. We must come nearer to Ch: 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 73 

to know him better, and only by becom- 
ing more pure in heart can we more 
clearly see our God. To pray for an in 
crease of faith must therefore be accom- 
panied by the prayer and by the exertion 
to become better men. But what do we 
say ? It is but one and the same prayer, 
differently expressed ; it is the same 
yearning of the soul towards the infinite 
and all-merciful God. 

These are the words of truth and so 
berness. They are the fact of Christian 
experience in every human soul. As we 
become better, the mysteries of God's 
providence are explained. As our nature 
is exalted, the difficulties of Christian 
faith disappear. Do your duty twice as 
well, and your faith will be twice as 
strong. Conform your lives more per- 
fectly to the will of God, and his dealings 



7 1 WEA EN18S an i) B1 n. 

with you will h continually more 

plain. By thus having Faith, althov 
B -rain of mustard-seed, ble 

to remove the mod lhr< 5 obstae 

from our path, the heaviest mount 
sorrow from our Bonis. 

This is, therefore s the 
which we have to Learn, and we should 

diligently suck to understand 

acknowledge that OUT iaith needs to be 
increased. It must be increased for our 
endurance of the discipline of life, which 
is sometimes so stern ; for our resign a* 
to its grids and disappointments, which 
are sometimes so hard to hear. But 
increase of faith is the <nlar_ I of 

capacity. Tt IS the manly growth of 

soul. It is advancement in goodness. It 

is the renewal of the in I God. 

Therefore, in seeking for faith and pi 



WEAKNESS AND STRENGTH. 75 

ing for it, seek for this spiritual growth 
and pray for it. Once more we say that 
it is one and the same seeking, it is one 
and the same prayer. 

How differently would the present life 
appear to us, if we were what we ought 
to be ! If the conflict with sin had 
ceased, and the lesson of self-control 
were well learned. If our passions were 
all calmed, and our desires all pure. If 
no duty were deferred or neglected, and 
no purpose of wrong indulged. Where 
would then be the conflict of mind, 
the misgiving, and the doubt? Where 
would then be the mystery of God's 
providence, and the despairing loneliness 
of our hearts ? Sorrow might still be the 
portion of our cup, and before its coming 
we might, for the moment, still pray that 
it should pass from us ; but God's own 



I i;\k\ IBS AND B1 PH. 

would be near to comfort, and I 

c 

which paaseth all onderstandi 
would be ours. 

May God therefore increase our faith ! 
By becoming like Jesus Christ, may we 
Learn to pray in his name. By being 

onoiled with God in the daily eoad 
of our lives may we Learn to be recon- 
ciled to hifl will. May our bouUi be so 
enlarged, and our heart- bo purified from 
sin, that we may discern thing 
are, and daily become more 

thus rise above the Beeminga and illu- 
sions of the world, to dwell iii the peri 

truth of righteous Who shall gn- 

at that which is bringing him r to 

God? Lord, UK I OUT faith ! 



(kompttaatutts. 



Deem not that they are blessed alone 
Whose days a peaceful tenor keep ; 

The God who loves our race has shown 
A blessing for the eyes that weep. 

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to 
the house of feasting ; for the living shall lay it to 
heart. 

Blessed are they that mourn ; for they shall be com- 
forted. 



Most gracious and merciful Father, we resign our- 
selves and all <>ur intereeti to thy disposal, in the hum 
ble hope that thy merqy will never forsake us, and I 
thou wilt eause all t; work together for our 

good. We would submit patiently to thy will m 

D ; and wo humhly pray that we may so 
pass thr :' this world, as finally t 

prepared for the etyoyment of perfect and eternal hap- 
world to come, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 



COMPENSATIONS. 



We may thus learn to reconcile our 
selves to the will of God, under all afflic- 
tions, and to resign ourselves, without 
complaining, to the divine disposal. 
Every step of advancement in the Chris- 
tian character adds to our Christian faith, 
until we learn to lay aside all doubt and 
fear, and to receive both joy and sorrow 
as equally proofs of parental love. When 
roused from the sweetest dreams of 
earthly bliss by that which seems to be 
the voice of warning and rebuke, we shall 
answer, " Speak, Lord, for thy servant 
heareth ; " and although with tears in our 



80 






and natural Badness in oui 
n mmend ourselves to I 

unto a faithful Oi We n gain 

the ordinary duties of life, 
that, although our human hop< 
appointed, we do uo( labor in vain in the 
Lord. 

There is, however, a still higher and 
P* iperience, by which we i 

understand more perfectly the I 
pronounced upon those who mourn. I 
the experience by which we arc tan 
the compensations given, even here, to 
those upon whom the burden of grief is 
laid. The Scripture teaches that f 
who sow in te And 

to go to the house of 
mourni d to the house of 

f ; u* th ^ of all, an I the iivi 

Tli 



COMPENSATIONS. 81 

words which we may have read and heard 
a thousand times, without thinking of 
them as being literally true. We have 
thought of them, perhaps, as belonging 
to the church and the pulpit, and as 
being true in some technical, religious 
sense, rather than as expressing the act- 
ual facts in the real experience of life. 
Or, if we have allowed to them an exact 
meaning, it has been only with reference 
to preparation for the future life. We have 
learned, perhaps, by observing the effect 
of adversity upon others and upon our- 
selves, that the trials of life are well cal- 
culated to purify and elevate the soul. 
But the present compensations of sorrow 
are not so easily discerned. We do not 
so willingly learn that even here, in the 
human relationships of life, of friends and 
kindred and home, it is possible for us to 



82 COMl' IONS. 

• which set 
to be the 

happiness in Loving each i 
inoi . and our whole \\i'<- I 

more blessed in company with tli 
whom we Loi of the Bhadc 

and the darkness in which we maj 
been appointed, for a tin dwell. 

Nay, our hearts almost shrink from I 
suggestion of Buch a possible result, as 
it implied forgetfolness of the d< 

Bereavement is indeed the deep* 
row, in comparison with which all other 
providential griefs are easily endured. It 
is an absolute loss, for the place of tl 
taken from us can never be supplied. It 
is a wound which cannot be perfectly 
healed, and the memory of the dead m 
always remain as an experience of contin- 
ued Borrow. Vet as time, the consol 



COMPENSATIONS. 83 

bears us onward, and brings us continu- 
ally nearer to those whose memory is so 
precious, their cherished forms become 
more and more beautiful, they seem to 
hover around us clothed in garments of 
angelic light, their faces beam with heav- 
enly expression, and their dear remem- 
bered voices fill our ears with heavenly 
music. Our present communion with 
them has indeed ceased ; for it could not 
continue consistently with the health of 
our minds, or without impairing the 
practical usefulness of this earthly life. 
It is not appointed to us to live in the 
body and out of the body at the same 
time. Even the communion of God's 
Spirit is granted to us only under such 
conditions that we cannot distinctly sepa- 
rate it from what we call the natural 
working of our own minds ; nor can we 



84 I BT8ATI0H8. 

r to I there/ 1 on 
le« im to be expn bsIj the ii 

■ tod, And bo of the departed 
ones, who live in all our thoughts, and 
whose love consecrates all our affS 
To our mortal Bight and hearing fin 

turn, and neither for th< 
our own should we desire it. Y« 

I thai they are still ours, no! onlj 
rememtx red, I'm to be loved and oh 

id. For, although dead, th< 
living, and they still b to us, 

heavenly kindred, although the qui 
earth has received their forms, and the 
place which once knew them can know 
them no more. 

The memory of the il< i a<l ! What is 
this life in comparison ? Whal is t 1 
real to us, bo unchangeably real, as the 
memory of those true and faithful he* 



COMPENSATIONS. 85 

which once beat with ours here, pulse for 
pulse, with whom we sorrowed and re- 
joiced, and who have gone before us, only 
a few steps in advance, cheering us, by 
the remembrance of their virtues, on the 
way to heaven ! Tears may suffuse our 
eyes when we think of them, yet our 
thoughts of them are the indispensable 
treasure of the soul. To our mind's 
eye they continually return, taking their 
wonted places, greeting us with the 
kindly smile, and our ears are again filled 
with the sweet tones of their gentle 
voices. Time passes ; the months and 
years roll on ; the burdens of life are 
taken up and laid down ; the cares of 
life vex us, and are forgotten ; new joys 
and new sorrows intervene ; new hopes 
and new disappointments exercise our 
affections ; gray hairs begin to cover our 



80 compi 

*dsj the lines of i M . Ull(i] 

they become the wrinkles of old bat 

- the memory of the dead fade awi 
b '""' perception of the Loss sustained 
- or do they become i as 

though they had never been ? 

When we review the exp* of our 

ewn trials, or enter into i! 

of others by sympathy with their gri 

we know that there is but one ansn 
The pain of bereavemenl is an abidi 

f- •"1.1 a portion ^ our own hearts 
and of um- own liv^ belongs to th< 
D i< indeed an irreparable loss that we 
bare sustained, and we cannot hope again 
tu '"• tbesame persons that we on® 
The world is changed to M 

in it is changed; its uses and purpos 
'"* longer the Bame, and can never again 
appear in their former light The bom 



COMPENSATIONS. 87 

hold to which the angel of death has come 
can never forget his coming. The shadow 
which his wings have cast over the soul 
must remain, however clearly the light 
from God's own love may shine. Yes, 
when we are most perfectly resigned to 
his w T ill, and most perfectly consoled 
under the loss by the dear promises of 
Christ, and most happy in the sweet hope 
of reunion with the dead, and most faith- 
ful in using the discipline which we know 
to be for our own good, the loss, in itself 
considered, may then seem, as it perhaps 
then becomes, greater than it ever was 
before. By the completeness of spiritual 
experience is the depth of our sorrow 
revealed. By the spiritual development 
of our affections the sacredness of earthly 
affection and of earthly relations is first 
discerned. A part of the blessing upon 



88 






who 11 'ii cornea by learni 

of their loss. 
Ii ifl not, therefore, that time <hills 
" U1 ' perceptions, or thai the bereavement 
sen,., to be leas. Religion does, in.]. 
■ bnl no pari of the consolation 
found in forgetfulness. I', rha] 

7 with truth thai the bereaved b< 
would doI consent to thi 
of its grief* for it would imply a 

sa of the treasure once j 
— 1. We would nol to mourn 

ii when we most desire to be comforted. 
lint still may we not ask ourseh 
with sadnesa of heart, indeed, but vet in 
(he Boberness of deliberate t : . — 

measuring the value of thi: 
to their real worth,— would it haw b< 
better for as to keep all here? If all 
who began life with us had continu 



COMPENSATIONS. 89 

with us, if we had not known in our 
families what death means, would our 
sum of happiness have been increased \ 
Would our present perception of God's 
goodness have been clearer] Would 
the real uses of life have been more 
fully accomplished? 

They have gone from us, I know, and 
their loss can never be made good ; but 
their having been here; the privilege 
that we enjoyed in knowing and loving 
them ; the belief that those whom we 
love, and who love us in return, are in 
heaven ; the sense of security in which 
we dwell for the departed, knowing as 
we do that their earthly trial is ended, 
and that the problem of mortal life has 
to them found a true solution ; the feeling 
of personal connection with heaven and 
heavenly things by reason of the family 



90 COMPENSAI1..N8. 

ties which arc extended — .■ , i i | 

:,llll " u • '1 imj . , a,,,! , 

haps not distill, -\\y peroeh :, ; is a 

1 experience, daily becoming more 
familiar to the bereaved heart, Incomes a 
compensation infinitely precious, and n 

■h as, if n that 

it is sometini ter to dwell in I 

house el' mourning than in the house of 

-ting. 

We do not say that it 
the seeming is not always the truth. 
the time when affliction is Laid upon 
we are sometimes inn deeply troubled 
think Boberly hi to think. We 

ean see a thousand reasons why the oh< r- 
iahed one should live : net one reason 
why he should die. It may be impossible 

at the time to discern wherein we 

lie the gainers, under the Bense of such 



COMPENSATIONS. 91 

real and oppressive loss. We are not 
speaking now of what may seem to us, 
but of what really is. The Scripture 
itself does not say that it seems bet- 
ter to go to the house of mourning, but 
that it is better. As a matter of fact, 
as our own real inward experience, if we 
have had any experience that can be called 
inward, we also may learn to say that it 
is better. 

The best part of our experience is not 
enjoyment, but suffering. Our highest 
happiness comes not with laughter, but 
through tears. There are those who live 
only on the surface of life, whose hearts 
strike no roots deeper than the thin sur- 
face-soil which every passing storm washes 
or drives away, and leaves an unfruitful 
earthy clay beneath ; and such persons, 
who live to eat and " drink and be merry, 



B. 

qo knowl< ad may 

no knowl< f what now 

j-. To them the house of moornin 
tii-' house of mourning and nothing e 
They shun it as a pestilence, and h 
nothing to learn there which their selfish 
and worldly nature is capable of learni 
Pleasure and happim to thru. 

of tlif same meaning id evil 

wre but the sam el It La not for 

them, n<»r to them, that we speak, 
speak to those who have -one down into 
the depth of Borrow, but even there have 
been able to cry out unto the living God« 
We speak to I 

pared to understand that the baptism of 
that which ii for the 

baptism of the Eoly Spirit 

We ask, therefore, appealing to our own 
experience and to theirs, whether we can- 



COMPENSATIONS. 93 

not distinctly trace a great part of what is 
noblest and best to what we have suf- 
fered. Has it been the prosperity -or the 
adversity of life which has ministered 
most truly to our manliness of thought, to 
our love of virtue, to our capacity of real 
enjoyment? Let us take this question 
with us in the retrospect of the last ten 
years, for example, and try the good and 
evil of life by this practical test. Out of 
that experience could we now best afford 
to lose the working of our joys or of our 
sorrows ? Has pleasure or pain done the 
most for us ? Has the house of mourning 
or the house of feasting taught us the 
most? From what source have our noblest 
thoughts come ? How have the purest 
affections been cultivated ? If we are 
conscious that our love of virtue is 
stronger than it was, and that we are 



!»1 



COMPENSATIONS. 



learning to live more habitually in 
divine pn , ,) j, m 

time of vigorous health, or npon I 
of sickness? II - 80 

'"■•"' to na .-is in the chamber of death? 
Haa eternity ever been h cn 

have returned from 
°pen i old ire have known how 

much we loved those whom God had 
given, unless II. ■ had taken them 
Could we love those who are left with 
th" same disinterested, prayerful, religions 
affection that we now feel, If we had not 
been taught to love them f 
well as for the present world ? 

We think that these questions lead 
to a fame answer. Our hearts may strog- 
dnst it, because of their weakness; 
but uur profoundest expert 
its truth. There is almost do really vain- 



COMPENSATIONS. 95 

able experience, almost no enduring and 
real good, which does not come through 
the ministry of pain and suffering. The 
cross which we bear is that which raises 
us to heaven. 

We have seen a family dwelling under 
the light of unclouded prosperity, where 
the radiance of Christian love has also 
been found. They have rejoiced together 
in the enjoyment of G-od's gifts, without 
forgetting to thank him as the giver. 
They have understood, so far as possible, 
the greatness of their blessings in remain- 
ing together a whole family, and a part 
of their daily prayer has been that they 
might always be spared the pain of be- 
reavement. It would seem that they did 
not need the hand of chastisement, or the 
discipline of suffering, either to confirm 
their mutual love, or to bring them nearer to 






COM PINS ATI OH8 



••■» in a Christian family 
Iik when death has entered th< 

of the deai household 1: 
to be a 
" r "<1 of their Saviour, and offl 

own hearts, bo themselves, fa all tl 
•' they had oo! known before I 
completely man depends upon God. They 
had n<.t known how absolufa utial to 

the human soul is the thought of the 
divine presence. They had not urn 
-I either the words or the character of 
as. They had not known the depth 
of their own souls, nor thi f 

their own affections. That one n 

erience has made all things new. 
The spiritual nature, although befi 

prized, now firsi ap 
dignity, ami fur tl,.' firsi tin,,, they 
thoroughly understand (hat the real use ' 



COMPENSATIONS. 97 

of the present world is to educate the 
soul for heaven. They loved each other 
before, but new tenderness is now added 
to their love. Their kindness becomes more 
thoughtful, their affection more disinter 
ested. They feel their dependence upon 
each other more deeply, and watch over 
each other with silent, inexpressible love. 

The fond union of youthful hearts 
seems very close, and causes them to 
dwell in an elysium of joy ; but the 
husband and wife seldom know how much 
they love each other until they mourn 
together, weeping for their children be- 
cause they are not. 

How quickly are the little dissensions 
and variances of life stilled by the pres- 
ence of death ! How sternly is selfish- 
ness rebuked, and with what yearning of 
the heart towards Heaven is the resolution 

9 



98 IONS. 

made to become moi r, man 

tionate, m title, and m thftd in 

the whole oondnot of Hi 

h La the natural infloenoe of soi 
shared in common. Hearts w\ 
cannot come bo near I r as 

which { ingle more 

perfectly than am chain of 

family love on earth !»• much 

stronger when some of its links are in 
en. 
If this be true, the house of mourning 
may be better than the house vf feasting, 

and they who sow in team may reap in 

Not only as a preparation for the 

future, bat even in this world, our sam 
of hapj.in be increased I w. 

We do not s] mtly nor ooldly, 

nor as those who never felt the agony of 

bereavement. We know what it is to luok 



COMPENSATIONS. 99 

upon the dying child, and to watch over 
the parent's failing strength. We know 
how deep the grave seems when open to 
receive those whom we love. But we 
also know that in the severest grief we 
bear, if we hold to our Christian faith 
and continue in the performance of our 
duty, we are coming nearer to God, 
nearer to him who suffered on the cross, 
nearer to those who live, nearer to those 
who die. Except the grain of corn fall 
into the ground and die, it cannot spring 
forth into life. And until these poor human 
hearts have been buried under grief, their 
best affections cannot be developed in 
their divinest strength. 

It is true, therefore, that our real hap- 
piness may become greater by its seeming 
diminution. We say it with hesitation, 
and almost with trembling ; yet it is true. 



100 COMPENSATIONS. 

It Lb true, not only as an abstract proposi 
•), bat as s pr Not 

by the number of our 
their greatness, but by our of 

them, La our daily happiness to 
be measured. If yon would mak< 
contented with their lot, better plan 
sometii not I >, but 

diminish their store. They are discon- 
tented because they have too much. 
Take away one half, and they will le 
to enjoy the rest better than they had 
ever enjoyed the whole. Cheerfulness of 
heart is often promoted by lessening the 
outward sources of delight, and compel- 
ling the heart to be the source of 

fulness to itself. If we were requi 

name, among all whom we have known, 
those who have retained the most perfect 
cheerfulness and sweetness of temper, wo 



COMPENSATIONS. 101 

should probably name some whose lives 
have been the continued experience of 
pain and suffering. Let there be Chris- 
tian faith as the foundation, and in almost 
any given case, if our object were to 
train a human soul to habitual content- 
ment and cheerfulness, and therefore to 
the enjoyment of life, the better course 
would be to place it under the discipline, 
not of unvaried prosperity, but of fre- 
quent pain and loss, and sometimes of 
severe suffering and bereavement. It is 
one of the sublime mysteries of the soul, 
that out of weakness we are thus made 
strong, that out of darkness springs forth 
the light. 

Why, then, should we shrink from sor- 
row as if it were calamity ? Why should 
the house of mourning be to us the house 
of misery and despair ? We know that 



C M V KNSATI0N8. 

there is an instinctive love 

I joy is most am It would be 

unnatural and hypocritical I hat we 

desire affliction ; Mid it 

an do so in 
the strict performance of our duty. 
court misfortune, or foolishly to incur 
loss, wciih 1 prevent the instruction which 
should come from the discipline of 1 
The feeling that we have done our best to 

it calamity is needful to fch 

of the trial. And BO it is written of the 

riour himself, thai he prayed, " If it 
be possible, lei this cup pass from me ;" 
and then added, " If it n 
from me unless I drink it, thy will, i 
mine, be done." But, to avoid sorrow by 
tlie use of proper and jusi i I to 

pray for our deliverance from it, is a very 



COMPENSATIONS. 103 

different thing from that dread of sorrow, 
that shrinking from it as if it were an 
absolute evil, which is unchristian distrust 
in God. However stern affliction may 
see.m in its first coming, it soon wears a 
reconciling face, and whispers a benedic- 
tion to the believing heart. We may feel 
the burden that we bear, and for a time 
bend under its oppressive weight, but still 
be daily learning the infinite truth, which 
changes earth to heaven, that all things 
work together for the good of those who 
love God. 

Of those who love God. Let these 
words be observed, for they contain, not 
only encouragement, but also warning. 
The discipline of life is not compulsion, 
but discipline. Only to him who asks 
shall it be given. Prosperity does not 
always harden, affliction does not always 



1 I 

soften, the heart The Borrow which G 
sends Lb intended to make us p 

ogthen, to ennoble as. Bat 

may turn it to the gall of <ss, 

and, instead of purifying, it may bum the 
heart, and harden it in selfish gi 
There is no poe 

wh'n-h we ran be compelled into gondii' 
Our work oannot be done for as, and the 
ward circumstances of life, whether 
of joy or sorrow, can minister to the boo] 
only according to our willingness, un 
the if God, to be Instructed. We 

need, therefore, in the time of prosperity, 
and before grief has entered in, to recog- 
nize the love of Clod in the blessings he 
bestows, in order to understand it in their 
remOYaL Thus would our enjoyment be 
doubly blot, and the SO? rief would 

find its convolution. 



COMPENSATIONS. 105 

The discipline is therefore of God's 
appointing, but its use, for good or evil, is 
our own. To-day we dwell in the house 
of feasting ; to-morrow, in the house of 
mourning. That is not for us, but for 
God, to determine. But, under God, it is 
for us to say whether it shall be better for 
us, according to the Scripture, or not. 
Sorrow is almost sure to come. We can- 
not, and hereafter we shall thank God 
that we cannot, avoid it. Eeceive it as 
the discipline of parental love, and it 
will, at the same time, enlarge the hap- 
piness of earth, and smooth the way to 
heaven. The blessing upon those who 
mourn is a real benediction, and the alle- 
viations of sorrow become a heavenly 
compensation. 

Why, then, art thou cast down, my 
soul, and why art thou disquieted within 



0OMPBH8ATIO] 

? Eope thou in God ; for I shall 
praise him who La the health of my coun- 
tenance and in v God. 

I'"'"" tlion 1 It well with thy ser- 

vant, Lord, a- ; to thy prom 

Before I was afflicted I wen .; but 

now have I kept thy word. Thou 
good, and doest good ; I 1, , n e thy 

statutes! It | | for me that I have 

ii afflicted, that I might Irani thy law. 
I have seen an end of all perfection, hut 
thy commandment is exceeding broad. 



